Catholicism - Catholics in Society

Catholics themselves may well take a different view, but ~ for better or worse ~ in our modern world, the insistence on priestly celibacy may seem to be asking the almost impossible, in however otherwise impeccable a cause. If the Church automatically rejects the 50% of its people who happen to be female, and then also rejects whatever proportion of male would-be priests can be identified as a risk to their own integrity and those of the institution and their flock, the remaining pool of potential clergy might be dauntingly small. Meanwhile it perhaps bears pointing out that there are in fact (presumably temporarily) a number of married Catholic clergy ~ those who came across to Rome after leaving the Church of England on grounds of conscience (ironically, most usually over the C of E's acceptance and encouragement of female clergy), and who were already married before doing so. In this field as a whole there are no simplistic or compatible answers, but that sadly doesn't mean there haven't been life-changing 'issues' for various individuals

There is plenty for discussion here but your Author believes Ans.3 represents (as it were) the thorniest issue. He hastens to add that he knows of at least one Catholic who is a regular member of the local Street Pastor team (and also of his Gospel Choir) ~ which suggests that there certainly are channels for such initiative

For many quizzers answer 3 may loom as a personal hurdle; but answer 2 could put one's livelihood in jeopardy, which is also potentially liable to create knock-on difficulties for one's nearest and dearest

Catholics may feel strongly about opposition to the practical implications of their own moral stance, but we are not thinking here of them contemplating such a vicious response as happened with the Scandinavian paper which found fit to publish cartoons representing the Muslim Prophet. The remaining three answers and their associated issues have certainly been known to attract a Catholic presence

The Oberammergau story (of the village, as much as its amazing Passion project) is widely researchable and moving at many levels. Answer 1 is an off-beam reference to the origins of the carol 'Silent Night' (originally 'Stille Nacht') in 1818; Biberswald (Ans.3) was the fictional setting of a German-language textbook series from the 1970s (a kind of 'Tyrolean Ambridge'); Ans.4 may seem generically plausible and duly worthy, but is total invention

There is no fixed obligation on Catholics to have any of these items about their person at all times, though many of them might appreciate having some such things

Patten chaired the Independent Commission on Policing in Nothern Ireland, but this was under a Labour Government and some years since he had lost his seat. Meanwhile he was also a European Commissioner. His measured but sincere public statements in these many roles (e.g. over the Savile saga at the BBC), and in his various books, reveal him to be a man of great integrity whose faith and beliefs inform his actions, and he has the ongoing 'ear' of the Pope with regard to aspects of Catholic statesmanship and the modern media

Answer 4 is the only one that stands to gain (entirely false) traction among conspiracy theorists!

This fine organisation has been up and running since the 1960s. To dub it a 'Catholic counterpart to Oxfam' is perhaps a tad glib, but essentially not too far wide of the mark

As ever, we are open to persuasion &/or correction, but we suspect that the nub of answer 4 is probably what would rankle the most in the eyes and ears of a traditional Catholic. Your author (a lifelong active Anglican ~ and, as it happens, contemporary of Madonna to within about 10 weeks) has in the course of 30+ years' teaching had the disconcerting experience of showing a ('conventional') picture or icon of the ('original') Madonna in the context of an RE lesson, and been challenged 'Why doesn't that look like the real Madonna?' (clearly in the sense of the modern performer). One might at least fairly say she 'has made the brand her own' ~ but whether for the longer-term good of the interests of the original individual by that name, would be at best a moot point. She might herself claim that in an age when fewer people go to church of any kind, at least in her somewhat roundabout way she's been keeping the name in the public awareness ...